Just an Orphaned Boy and A Hurt Girl
by Owls Down The Rabbit Hole
Summary: Arthur starts highschool after being home-schooled at the orphanage where he lives and meets a very odd girl that turns out to be having a worse time than he is. Rated T in case of bad language. There will probably be a bit of violence, etc. There won't be any EnglandxOC. I think.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur closed the door of his locker, jamming the lock shut tightly. With his books piled in his arms, he made his way down the hallway. There were so many people just standing in the hallways. Did people always do that at school? Shouldn't they be getting ready ready for class?

The first class on Arthur's schedule was English. That's great, one of his favourite subjects! He followed the room numbers down one of the halls until he found the room matching the number on his schedule. Everyone was giving him the oddest looks. He looked down at his clothing. They couldn't be that bad, could they?

Maybe it was something else. He didn't think he looked like any celebrity. There would probably have been a different reaction if that were the case. His eyebrows? Alfred made fun of him for his bushy eyebrows a lot. Arthur rubbed them slightly as if he had an itch.

Arthur spotted Alfred a bit farther down the hall, he was already laughing with a crowd of people around him. Arthur tried slipping into the classroom without Alfred noticing him, but that plan immediately went down the drain.

"Hey! Hey, Arthur! Come here, dude!" He heard Alfred yell. Arthur sighed, and turned around to join his friend, "Guys, this is my friend, Arthur. We're practically brothers, right Arthur?"

Arthur nodded. It was true. Arthur remembered the night Alfred and his brother, Matthew, had been dropped off at the orphanage where they lived. Arthur was six, the boys were only five, their only possessions was a coat, which at the time was too big for Alfred, and a stuffed, toy polar bear. After that, Arthur became their unofficial brother-slash-guardian.

The warning bell rang and everyone scurried away to collect their books. Arthur headed to class without waiting for Arthur, they probably wouldn't have any classes in common, anyway, since they were in different grades.

Arthur was the first in the classroom. Wait, no, that wasn't true. There was someone already sitting in one of the desks near the window. The teacher wasn't there yet either. She was probably getting something ready for the class.

Arthur stood next to the door way for a moment, unsure whether he should sit next to the girl or not. She didn't look very friendly, a sullen expression was plastered across her face as she watched the little nature there was outside, but at the same time, she seemed to be the kind of girl that would be anyone's friend.

He decided he didn't have much of a chance at befriending many of the people in the building and took a seat next to the girl. She didn't acknowledge him at first, but turned her head in her palm slowly to face him.

"Hi, I'm Arthur Kirkland. I'm new here," He said to her a bit shyly.

She didn't reply for a moment, "How can you be New Here if you're also Arthur Kirkland? Is one of those a nickname?" She didn't even say it with a smile. She was serious.

"No, I-I meant that I'm a new student here. My name is Arthur Kirkland."

She stared down at the desk in shame, "Right, I should have known that." She laid her head on her folded arms atop the desk, hitting her forehead in a sort of punishment.

"Wait," Arthur tried to stop her from hitting herself, "What's your name?" He wondered, and it wasn't until he said that, that she stopped hitting herself.

"My name! … My name … is Lotti. Dodd. Lotti Dodd. Right." She told him as she quivered in her seat.

"I like that. It's pretty," He complimented her, without realizing until afterwards, she didn't notice anyway.

"I don't think it is. I don't think my parents did either. I just needed to have a name, and Lotti's what they picked," Lotti said, though she stared at the floor, so it was as if she wasn't even telling Arthur. It was just a fact that was in her mind.

"Well, they probably put more thought into it than mine did. Mine is such a common name."

"Really? I only know one other Arthur..."

"Oh, well, I guess it's not _too_ common..."

"Do you get on with your parents well?"

"No," Arthur sighed, he looked down at his shoes with a sudden fascination with his shoelaces, "They abandoned me at an orphanage when I was a baby."

"At least they loved you enough to do that much. They could have left you to die in an alley. Or something like that."

"It might have been a bit more merciful. If I died. Maybe someone would have even found me and kept me, it's not like I would have remembered any pain. I was just a baby."

"But then who would have looked out for your friends? Your brothers," She said.

"Alfred and Matt? They would be fine. They've got each- Wait, how did you know about them?"

"_They_ told me."

"They? When did you meet Alfred and Matt?"

"I meant-" She was about to tell him, but cut herself off when a small crowd began to flow into the room and fill up the seats around them. Arthur didn't try bothering her about it, he figured she was probably very shy with lots of people around.

He pulled his English binder from the pile of books on his desk, then the book he was reading at that time. He pulled out the bookmark and began reading where he left off. After a minute he noticed a ball of paper bounce off Lotti's hair and into his lap. He glanced up in the direction it came from just in time to see another being launched in their direction at Lotti.

The boy tossing the crumpled paper at her was albino and had a mischievous look in his blood red eyes. There were a few giggling and smirking as he bombed Lotti with paper. One had shoulder length blonde hair, then there was a pair of boys that looked almost like twins, except the curls in their hair were on opposite sides, but they didn't seem too interested. Another boy with grey-blonde hair was smiling, a brown haired and tanned boy was smiling as well, but he didn't seem completely happy with the actions of his friend. Then there was a blonde boy with his hair slicked back who obviously didn't like what was happening, but didn't say anything.

"Who is that? That's throwing the paper?" Arthur asked Lotti curiously as he watched the albino crumple up another unused paper.

"It's Gilbert Beilschmidt," Lotti replied without even looking away from her empty desktop, "The blonde is his brother, Ludwig. The one with the girly hair is Francis. The tanned boy is Antonio. The grey-ish haired one is Ivan. The ones with curls in their hair are Romano and Feliciano. I actually like Feliciano, he's nice to me sometimes, but I think he's a little scared of me. But I think a lot of other people are..."

"Why would they be scared of you? I think you're rather nice."

"I punched Gilbert two years ago."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he pushed me at the wrong time in grade nine. He still bothers me, but not as much." Lotti began piling the paper balls into a pyramid on her desk. It was rather large already, Arthur noticed.

Another ball flew over Arthur's head, he stood up suddenly and pivoted to face the group of boys behind him.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked simply, it was the first thing to come to his mind.

"What's it look like, idiot?" Gilbert crumpled up another paper as he laughed at Arthur.

"Well, it looks like you're being mean!"

"Ooooh, and I care sooo much about being nice to her."

"It's not like you have to be either to her. You could just leave her alone."

"Why would I do that? This is more fun!"

"Then why not play catch with one of your mates. I'm sure it's a lot more fun when the ball gets passed back," Arthur said to him as if he were a child, then sat back in his seat.

The teacher rushed in at that very moment just before the bell rang. Arthur placed his bookmark in between the pages and awaited the teacher's instructions.

Lotti picked one of the paper balls from the middle of her pyramid, making it topple over and spread across her desk, onto the floor. She produced a red pen from her bag, smoothed out the paper and scribbled something across it's surface. She stealthily slid it across the tops of their desks until it was sitting in front of Arthur.

_Thank you_, it read. Arthur picked up one of his own pens and wrote _You're welcome,_ then passed it back to her. She smiled shyly at him, then turned her attention back to the teacher.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of first period, everyone rushed for the door while Lotti and Arthur were still collecting their things.

"What class do you have?" Lotti asked. Arthur looked down at his schedule.

"Uhm ... Programming," Arthur took a minute to figure out which was the second class.

"I thought you would! I have it, too."

"Good, I have a friend there, too! I hope Alfred got into the class, too."

"He probably did. Actually, he's probably in the same class as us. Barely anyone is interested in programming here, so all the classes are smushed together."

"Oh, good, I can see how he and Matt are doing, then." They turned to head for the door. Arthur thought everyone had vacated the classroom, but there was still one student left. Ludwig Beilschmidt.

"Uhm … Lotti, I'm sorry about Gilbert's behavior earlier," He told her.

She didn't reply for a moment, "I know you are."

"You're sorry?" Arthur said, absolutely stunned by his classmate.

"Y... Yes..."

"But you wouldn't stop him? He's your brother, or so I'm told. You should have some influence."

"You would think so, but Gilbert's weird like that..."

"I don't care it's still not acceptable. Come on Lotti." Arthur said to Ludwig, then dragged Lotti out of the classroom.

She led him silently to the programming classroom. There was barely anyone in the room. They took two of the computers near the window where Lotti insisted on sitting. Arthur was relieved to see Alfred rush into the room a few minutes after their arrival. He spotted Arthur and took the computer next to him.

"Sweet, we get a class together after all!" Alfred said as he turned on his computer, "This is gonna be great, dude!"

"Well, it'll definitely be a nice change from the idiots in our grade," Arthur nodded.

"...Our?"

"Yes, mine and Lotti's," Arthur gestured to Lotti who was quietly hunched over in her chair.

"Wow, you made a friend, Arthur! I'm-"

"You're Alfred, I know. Arthur told me about you. And … Mattie."

"Awe, did you miss us that much, Arthur? You had to start rambling about us? Not that that would be boring, no way."

"He didn't. He was occupied elsewhere." Lotti was confusing Arthur. He did talk about Alfred and Matthew a little, but he didn't ramble. But she made it sound as though he had been talking about them. A lot. But then it also sounded as though she had been hearing about them while he was doing something else. Maybe while he was defending her from Gilbert.

This girl was weird. No doubt about it.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rings, telling the boys and Lotti lunch begun. They left the classroom together, but Alfred decided to part from them.

"I'm supposed to meet Mattie at the start of lunch. We'll see you in the cafeteria, right?" Alfred asked before rushing off.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there," Arthur told him, then headed in the opposite direction with Lotti, "Where's your locker?"

"I don't use it."

"You just carry your books with you all over the school in your bag?"

"Yeah... Is there something wrong with that?"

"No … But I bet it gets awfully heavy after a while."

Lotti shrugged, "I'm strong enough to handle it, I guess."

They stopped at Arthur's locker before heading to the cafeteria. He stowed his books in the locker and grabbed his lunch.

Alfred and Matthew had already claimed the four seats at the end of a table, which was, unfortunately for Lotti, the opposite side of the room from the windows.

"Are you Lotti?" A quiet voice wondered. Lotti found the source; a boy looking almost exactly the same as Alfred, except his hair was a bit longer and had a long curl where Alfred's flicked up into the air. And their eyes were coloured differently. Alfred's were blue, this boy's were a dark violet.

"You're Matthew," She said, then nodded to answer his question from before, "And that's Kumajiro."

Matthew nodded, "Did Alfred and Arthur tell you?"

Lotti shook her head, then Arthur interrupted them as he sat down next to Lotti, "You actually brought the stuffed bear? People are going to make fun of you," Arthur groaned.

"No, they haven't been! A few girls have actually told me they thought he's cute!" Matthew cuddled the bear.

"They were probably making fun of you afterward!" Arthur told him.

"Shut up, Arthur, if he wants to carry it with him, you shouldn't stop him," Alfred interjected. Arthur scowled at Alfred, but didn't say anything else. Arthur pulled the sandwich from the grocery bag he had in place of a lunch bag.

Arthur felt Lotti jump slightly in the chair next to him. He glanced over to see her chewing on her bent fingers, and it looked like she was biting hard.

"Lotti … Are you chewing your fingers?"

"Ouch," Lotti pulled her fist away from her mouth, "Yes, it's a … nervous tick. Or something else."

"You're bleeding!" Arthur noticed a few specks of blood on her lips.

"Yeah, it happens," She looked down at the bleeding hand in her lap, "From time to time."

"Are you okay?" Matthew asked.

"Yes! I'm fine!" She told him, then went back to chewing her fingers after stopping the flow of blood.

"Where's your lunch?" Arthur asked as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

Lotti stopped chewing her hands, leaning forward in her seat, "I don't have one."

"Why not?"

"My … mom forgot that I start school today when she went grocery shopping a few days ago and I had to get out of the house quickly. So I … couldn't make anything."

"Oh," Arthur looked down at his own lunch, "Here, it's not much, but you can have my apple. It's better than nothing."

"...Thank you..." Lotti said and tentatively took the fruit from Arthur's palm.

"No problem, just try to get something to eat tomorrow," He smiled at her, completely oblivious to her situation.

"I will try."

The time allotted for lunch went by quickly, before they knew it, the bell had rung again and they were heading out of the cafeteria.

"What do you two have now?" Arthur asked the brothers.

"History," Alfred replied without even looking at his schedule, "You?"

Arthur unfolded the paper he had previously stowed away in his pocket, "Oh, it looks like I have a spare!"

"Yeah, all the grade elevens have a spare during third period," Lotti said.

"So, you have one too?" Arthur wondered, Lotti nodded, "Great! This afternoon will be fun."

"That's soooo not fair!" Alfred whined.

"Oh, you like history!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Alfred grinned, then skipped away with Matthew in tow.

Arthur and Lotti had luckily evaded their unfriendly classmates in their spare period and had a teacher to keep them safe in their last class. But it didn't make a difference to Lotti, she had a definite confrontation whether she tried to avoid it or not.

Her father wasn't at home when she arrived. He would be at work for two more hours, it was amazing he could actually keep a job. So, Lotti took her time going to her room. She packed up a few things for her lunch for the next day to keep her promise to Arthur, then quickly cooked something up for her dinner.

She just finished piling it on a plate when she heard the front door open, he was home half an hour early. Stupid traffic being unpredictable.

Lotti grabbed her bag and rushed away to her room. She quietly shut the door behind her and began eating her dinner before he would come after her. She managed to scarf down most of the food on her plate before he began banging on her door. She set the plate next to the door where she was sitting, hopefully he would decide she wasn't worth his time tonight.

But the door flew open, hitting Lotti and sending her across the floor.

"When I knock on your door, you answer it! You're lucky I give you a door, or even a room! You're probably being a complete slut in here when I'm not home!" He screamed at her.

"I'm sorry! I'll answer you next time!" Lotti squeaked.

"That's right, you will!" He noticed the plate lying on the floor next to his feet, "And what the hell! You made dinner but didn't even bother to make some for me? God, you're useless!"

"I-I thought mom would make you something!"

"No, you idiot! She's working late tonight to pay for all the damn food you fork into your mouth! I don't why the hell she insisted on keeping you! What are you still doing on the floor! Get up!" He grabbed her frail arm and yanked her up off the floor.

"I-I'm sorry! What would you like for dinner? I'll make whatever you want."

"Oh, like hell you will. You'll probably just do something to it just to piss me off more! You always do, you stupid little whore!" He pushed her back down to the floor and kicked her before leaving the room, "I'll get something from the restaurant down the street."

Lotti sighed in relief when she heard the front door slam behind her father. She looked down at her shoulder where a bruise was already forming.

"He actually went easy on me tonight... Thank God..." Lotti wasn't even religious, but she had to thank someone for the miracle that had just occurred.

Lotti quickly picked herself up off the ground, she figured she should have a quick shower before he returned. She might not get another chance for a while.

The bell that started English class for Arthur and Lotti still hadn't rung, so Arthur had his bookmark laying on his desk and his nose in one of his favourite novels. The fourth Harry Potter book.

Lotti took her seat next to him, she glanced his way without saying hello and recognized the cover, "You like Harry Potter, too?"

"Yes, of course. Anyone who doesn't is a fool."

Lotti had a smile bigger than any smile Arthur had ever seen before and much bigger than one he would have expected to see on Lotti, "That's awesome! Those books are pretty much all I will ever read. I mean, I read a lot of other books and stuff, but I like Harry Potter the best! It's so amazing, and J.K. Rowling went to so much trouble to get all the details of the story. She used actual facts to build up the story, even though it's completely fictional." That was the longest string of words Arthur had heard her say, and that would probably the most she would ever say without pause.

"Y- Yes, I agree," Arthur stared at her in awe.

"And I love all the creatures and the spells and the potions," Lotti sighed as she thought about the stories, she leaned towards Arthur, "And you know, sometimes I pretend I'm with them, the characters and the creatures, making potions or casting spells. Or something else. Just to escape the real world for a while. And it's so much fun..."

"Yes, I know how you feel about that," Arthur had to admit he spent a lot of time in the world of Harry Potter, even if he was just thinking how similar he was to Harry. At one point he honestly thought Dumbledore would show up at the orphanage on his eleventh birthday to take him away to Hogwarts. After that didn't happen, he settled with talking to the characters in his head. That was good enough for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur waltzed happily down the hall. It had already been three weeks since he had started school, he didn't have any friends other than Lotti, Alfred and Matthew, but he didn't care about the number. He had friends and that was what mattered.

Speaking of friends, as he walked through the hall, he recognized Lotti walking away from him. She had become much more open to the three boys in the few weeks they knew each other, Arthur was glad he had sat next to her on his first day.

"Oi, Lotti!" Arthur tried to get her to wait for him, but it seemed that she couldn't hear him, "Lotti!" He ran down the hall after her. It wasn't until he was a few yards away that he realized the girls giggling as they walked next to her were making fun of her.

"What are you even doing here?" One of the snobs wondered.

"Yeah, this is a school, not some gothic circus." Another burst out in an evil cackle.

"I don't think even a circus _that_ creepy would let her in!"

"Oi! What's your problem?" Arthur caught up to them, stopping the girls short, even Lotti.

"What? You've decided to be some kind of knight in shining armor?" The first one teased.

"That's too bad. He could have been a real babe if he didn't hang around with such freaks."

"Yeah. His brothers, too."

"Yeah, he's bringing them down with him!" They laughed at Arthur as they pranced down the hall like it was their own. That last remark stung Arthur a little. He hadn't actually thought that by hanging out with him, they were becoming losers, too.

"Are you okay, Lotti?"

"I- I can't help it," Lotti spoke to her feet, "I have what I have. I can't do any better."

"And that's-"

"No, my clothes. And you, too … Arthur. No, I can't run away. Where would I go? But there's no such thing as Hogwarts."

"Lotti?" He said in a louder tone. She snapped out of her trance and shot Arthur a small smile. He spotted a discoloured part of her skin around her left eye right away. A black eye.

"Oh, Arthur, I didn't know you were there..."

"What the bloody hell happened to your eye?"

Lotti didn't have a reply for that, they began walking slowly down the hall towards Arthur's locker in silence, "I can see thestrals,"* She mumbled just loud enough for Arthur to hear.

"What do you mean?" Arthur wasn't sure if he knew what she meant. He really hoped he was wrong.

"I can see thestrals," She repeated in a clearer voice, "Like Harry."

Arthur felt sick, "W-why?"

"I used to have a brother," She began, pausing once in a while, "He was two years younger than me. And when I was eight … he got really, really sick. My dad kept saying he was fine ... and my mom wouldn't take him to the doctor. So I stayed with him until one day he … just stopped breathing..."

"Are you serious?" Arthur gaped at her, she nodded and shuffled about uncomfortably, "Did one of them..." He pointed to his own eye.

"Yeah, dad was drunk last night and that makes him worse."

"He does that _every_ night?"

"Yes..."

"Lotti, why didn't you tell me or Alfred or Matthew or just _someone_?" Arthur grabbed her arm without even thinking.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt, too."

"We're your friends, we'll do whatever we have to until you're not hurting anymore."

"But if you... He'll..."

"Don't worry about us." Arthur held her in front of him by her shoulders, staring at her in the eyes, "The next time he starts up, you call us and we'll be there in five minutes. No more than that."

She pushed his hands away and hugged his waist tightly, "Thank you, Arthur."

He chuckled, "It's no problem." He hoped it would be true, "Come on, the bell's going to ring soon." Arthur pulled Lotti down the hall to be rid of his backpack before the first bell rang.

They made it to the English classroom before the bell rang and took their regular seats. They didn't talk for a while, Lotti rested her head on the desk, contemplating how everything might change after the boys would save her, Arthur thought of how he was going to subdue a full grown man.

"You remind me of him," Lotti said after a few minutes.

"Who?"

"My brother," Lotti told him, "I think he would have been just like you if he had grown up."

"Oh, well, maybe, I guess..."

"You know, thestrals aren't all I can see. I can see him, too."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah … He was my only friend before you came here. But he keeps telling me … he's not my brother. His name is Arthur, too."

"That's quite a coincidence."

"I don't think it is..."

"Alright, whatever you say..." Arthur said as their teacher walked in, she always seemed to be late for class.

Lotti grabbed the phone before heading to her room. She grabbed a few things for her lunch for the following day on her way. She closed the door behind her and pulled her homework from her bag. She found a pen on the floor near her dresser and began working on the sheet questioning her about the book the English class was reading.

"How's the book?" Arthur's voice wondered. Lotti looked up to see a boy looking like an older version of the brother she once knew. He looked so real, but she could see the odd twitch his body made every once in a while. She hadn't noticed that when he first started appearing, but not long after, it became apparent he wasn't real.

"It's good. I'd rather we could read Harry Potter, though..." Lotti mumbled as she glanced back at her paper.

Arthur laughed, "Of course you do. That's, like, your favourite series."

"Yes, I'm aware it is," Lotti smiled.

"Would you mind reading me some of it?" Arthur wondered and plopped down on her bed, searching through the small pile of books beside it, "You haven't in a while."

"No, I wouldn't mind. Do you remember where we left off?"

"Yeah, we were on the sixth book, I think the second chapter." Arthur pointed to the novel he was referring to. Lotti carefully pulled it out of the stack and opened to the second chapter.

Lotti read out loud to Arthur for a while, she couldn't even venture a guess as to how long they sat there as the words poured from her mouth, so much clearer than how she always spoke any other time.

The front door slammed, shaking the walls around Lotti. She winced at the vibrations but calmly continued reading from the novel. It wasn't long before her father found a reason to intrude. He slammed on the door, Lotti jumped in surprise and retreated to the side of her bed before answering his screaming.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" He wondered after bursting into the room.

"I was just reading to myself..."

"Well, you can stop. It's fucking annoying," He growled, then spotted the phone sitting next to her on the floor, "What the hell are you doing with the damn phone?"

"Oh … I, uhm … I'm expecting a call," She told him as convincingly as she could.

"What the fuck ever! You were probably talking dirty to your fuck buddy. You're driving up the damn bill! If you want something like that, just go see the damn guy!"

"But I wasn't..."

"Stop lying to me!" He screamed, he grabbed her sweater with his left hand, pulling her to her feet, and punched her square in the jaw. She flew onto her bed without making a sound, she knew if she screamed, her punishment would only become worse, "You're so fucking useless! You even get a damn job and you're using up all our hard earned money!"

While he yelled and screamed pointless words at her, Lotti lied on her sheets, curled up in a ball facing away from her father. Luckily, he hadn't noticed her shove the phone into her sweater and she was dialing the number to the local orphanage.

Arthur flung his backpack onto his bed, it squeaked under the weight. Matthew was sitting on the bed next to his, hunched over with his nose in a book. Alfred wasn't in their room at that moment, it was his turn to help with preparing dinner.

"What are you reading, Matthew?" Arthur wondered as he flopped onto the bed after his bag.

"A play we're supposed to be reading for English."

"Why haven't I seen Alfred reading his?"

"It's Alfred, Arthur. He's not interested in this play. Though I have to agree, it isn't very interesting. If it weren't for some of the language, I would think it was for elementary studies."

"Well, you better not be agreeing to tell him what happens in it, he won't understand it completely if you do that."

"Alright... I'll tell him that, then."

They heard a knock on the door and both looked up at the same time. They called out to the guest to come in simultaneously. It was one of the younger boys that lived in the orphanage with them.

"Hello, Peter," Matthew smiled.

"Uhm … Arthur," Peter said shyly, "Mom says someone's calling you. She said it sounded really, really important. You'd better hurry." Mom was what everyone called the woman who ran the orphanage, just because it was weird to refer to her as Mrs. Cooper.

"Who would be calling?" He wondered for a moment as he stood, then realized what he should have long before that second, "Matthew, grab Alfred, my shoes and yours! Hurry!" He screeched at Matthew as he ran down the hall.

He took the phone from Mom, ignoring her displeased face about his manners, "Lotti?" He whispered into the phone. He could hear her father yelling in the background, noises coming from Lotti that obviously weren't a good sign.

He slammed the phone back onto the receiver and rushed away while yelling back at Mom, "You'll have to excuse Alfred from his duties tonight! We have to help someone! Now!"

**/ * For any one that doesn't read/watch Harry Potter, a thestral is a creature that appears only to those who have seen death. If there's any more Harry Potter references, I'll be sure to explain them below the chapter.**

**Alright, so read and review, tell me what you think so far! **


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur streaked down the road, almost two meters ahead of Matthew and Alfred. They reached the house Arthur had only been to once after what he hoped wasn't too long. He knocked on the door once before slamming the door open a second after. He rushed through the living room, down the hall to the room he knew was Lotti's.

He stopped in the doorway where he could see a man he assumed was Lotti's father with his friend pinned up against the wall by her neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get rid of you right now?" He screamed in her face, unaware Arthur and two other boys stood behind him.

"Because if she dies, then you do, too!" Arthur shouted at the man. He turned around, letting Lotti drop onto her bed as she gasped for air while clutching her neck.

"Who the fuck are you? Who said you could come into my house? Get the hell out of here!" Lotti's father screamed at the boys, but they didn't move, they didn't even flinch.

"No way, dude! There's no way we're leaving!" Alfred yelled back, "The hero has to protect the damsel in distress!"

"You think you can be the hero and save her?" He began laughing evilly at Alfred, "She can't be saved! You're too late, she's damaged goods! Go find some other chick to bang, kid!"

"Don't talk about her that way!" Arthur screeched at the man, "The only damage there is to her are the bruises and scars _you've_ given her!"

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are? I've given everything to this family since _she _ was born, and no one has ever bothered to even say thank you!" He yelled back.

"Yeah, you've definitely given your all to your family! All your rage that you can't keep to yourself! You have to hurt someone else to make you feel better. Even if it's just little girl, who the bloody hell cares, right?"

"You've got some nerve, kid!" Lotti's father raised his arm high in the air, it came down and collided with the side of Arthur's head. He fell sideways onto the floor.

"Hey! Don't treat my bro like that!" Alfred yelled as he jumped into action. He leaped into the air with his leg out, he kicked Lotti's father down onto the floor a couple meters from where Arthur was just getting back on his feet.

Arthur took that opportunity to run to Lotti who was still sitting on her bed, still catching her breath. A purple line had begun to show around Lotti's neck, she clung to it, Arthur knew it must've hurt a lot.

"Lotti, are you okay?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah … I think so," She choked out, "Thanks for coming." She pulled him into a tight hug, which they both quickly abandoned when Alfred began screaming at the man lying on Lotti's floor. Alfred was sitting on his chest, his fists going back and forth across Lotti's father's face.

"Never ever call Lotti damaged! You're sooo much more damaged than her! You don't even have a chance!"

"Alfred! Stop! You're going to kill him!" Matthew told him from across the room.

"Who cares? He fucking deserves it!"

"I don't care! Stop it!" He screamed at his brother. That was the loudest any of them had ever heard him speak. Alfred's fist dropped to his sides in astonishment, he sighed, stood up and began walking towards his brother.

None of them noticed the presumably unconscious body lift itself up onto his hands and knees until he lunged for Alfred's legs.

"Alfred! Look out!" Arthur yelled, making Lotti cover her ears. Alfred spun around, just in time to see the body grab his legs and force him to fall to the ground with him. He pinned Alfred down to the floor, cackling maniacally.

"You're going to regret doing that, kid. You'll never see the sunlight ever again." Lotti's father raised his fist once more, he hit Alfred, sending a spew of blood across the messy floor. Matthew screamed out for his brother, but seemed to be otherwise paralyzed, as was Lotti. She couldn't let go of Arthur's sleeve even if it meant costing Alfred's life.

"Alfred!" He screamed as Alfred took another blow, Arthur reached out to his brother, but couldn't get to him.

Then someone appeared behind Matthew, it wasn't Lotti's mother, the figure wasn't at all feminine. Arthur recognized the face after a second, then remembered seeing it on the street when he, Alfred and Matthew were running to Lotti's home.

"What the heck are you doing?" Ludwig yelled at Lotti's father. He looked up and the newest trespasser, just in time to see his face before he pulled him off Alfred and threw him against the wall.

"Alfred?" Ludwig shook his shoulder gently.

"'M 'kay," Alfred mumbled as he propped himself up on his elbows, Lotti and Arthur could see the blood gushing from his face from across the room.

"Are you sure? Be careful. It looks like you really took a beating."

"Dat's wha de hero does … to save de ones who count on 'im," He grinned up at Ludwig.

"What are you doing here, Ludwig?" Lotti asked, absolutely amazed by his appearance.

"I saw you guys running here, it looked like something bad happened 'cause I don't think I've seen any of you run like that, and the looks on your faces. So, I followed you and then I started hearing all the yelling and screaming so I came in. I hope you're not angry I trespassed."

"I think the only one that would object is him," Matthew nodded at the man pushing himself up onto his hands.

"You brats..." He cursed them all under his breath.

"Mr. Dodd, what are you doing?" Ludwig wondered, he never suspected the man of being abusive.

"Get out, Beilschmidt, I don't want to get your family caught up in this. Take these boys with you. None of this is your business." Lotti's father balanced himself with his hand against the wall.

"I don't think I should do that," Ludwig crossed his arms, suggesting that he would never leave.

"Fine, but if something happens to you, it's not my fault," He said as he raised his fist to hit Ludwig, he succeeded, though only because Ludwig let him. Ludwig grabbed his forearm, he somehow forced the man onto the ground in a split second. He began cursing and swearing at Ludwig loudly and violently.

"Has anyone called the police yet?" Ludwig growled, at the mention of the police, Lotti's father began thrashing around even more and demanding that Ludwig let him go.

"Does it look like we've had the chance?" Arthur scowled as Lotti clutched his arm.

"Well, then someone do it!" Ludwig shouted, mostly at Matthew who had been standing next to the doorway helplessly the entire time.

He didn't react for a moment, then grabbed the phone from where Lotti had dropped it. Matthew punched in nine-one-one and held it to his ear.

"Lotti! What the hell are you doing? Don't let them call the cops!" Her father screamed at her, "Do you know how angry your mother will be? She'll be furious, fucking furious! They think you're in danger with me? She'll do worse once I'm gone!"

"T-that's not true!" Lotti countered, surprising everyone in the room, including herself, "She's never hurt me before. It's always been you!"

Her father didn't say anything for a moment, he was completely astonished his victim was finally standing up to him. He didn't like it at all, "I was punishing you for all the crap you get into! Once I'm gone, someone else has to keep you on the right track!"

"I don't care! If she hits me, I'll just hit her back!"

"You can't throw a punch to save your life!" He laughed.

"That's not true, Dodd, she punched my brother a couple years ago," Ludwig interjected.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Getting into trouble with his family? They could have gotten you into a _lot_ of crap for that!"

"No way! It was self defense! I was there!" Ludwig told him, "The principal let it go because it was self defense!"

"Oh, fucking well! You still punched one of the Beilschmidt boys!" Dodd yelled, "Will you let go of me?"

"No!" Ludwig shouted in his ear, making him start cursing all over again.

"They'll be here in a few minutes!" Matthew said from the doorway. Dodd began thrashing around as well as swearing, it was getting harder for Ludwig to keep him pinned to the ground. Alfred stumbled over to help him. Lotti was finally able to let go of Arthur a minute or so after that to let him help out the other two boys. Matthew went to the front of the house to wait for the police.

They showed up a couple minutes after the boys finally won full control over Lotti's father. They locked a pair of cuffs around his wrists and roughly pulled him to his feet before pushing him through the house to their car. A couple of them took him away, while the other two stayed to hear the story from the five kids.

"There's a good chance he'll be locked up for a while, kiddo, with this many witnesses," The one patted Lotti on the shoulder before climbing into the car with his partner.

They watched the car disappear before saying anything to each other. Lotti was the first to speak, another surprise to them all.

"Thank you so much for coming. I can't believe it's actually over... I can't … even. I don't know what else to say," Lotti's eyes were watering as she hugged Matthew, then Alfred and Arthur.

"It was no problem," Matthew smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, what else is the hero supposed to do?"

"You're our friend," Arthur said when she hugged him, "And as much as we'd like to stay, we'll probably get in trouble if we stay out any longer _and _ go back with Alfred looking like this."

Lotti nodded, "I understand, I'll see you tomorrow." She waved to them as they started down the sidewalk at a pace that was suitable for Alfred's condition.

Lotti turned back to the house, and realized she had completely forgotten Ludwig was still there, standing on her lawn.

"Thank you, Ludwig, so much," She said.

"It's the least I can do to make up for Gilbert," He replied.

"You know, you don't have to make up for _his_ actions."

"It's mine I'm making up for, or at least the lack of actions. Arthur's right, I should stick up to my brother."

"It's okay that you can't, I understand your position, I mean, until today, I couldn't stand up to my dad like that! That's why I never said anything when you would apologize to me for him."

"I'll still try."

"Okay," Lotti smiled at him weakly, which he returned.

"Do you want me to stick around until your mom gets home? My parents won't care if I'm a bit late for supper."

"That would be nice, I guess..." They went back into the house and made themselves comfortable in the living room.

After Lotti grabbed a couple glasses of water, they sat on the couch for a few minutes in complete silence, then Lotti ended up blurting out a question out of the awkward that plagued the room.

"You were the one that convinced them it was self defense?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I mean, really, he provoked you. He deserved it," Ludwig said, "W-were all those bruises from your dad that day?"

"Yeah, he didn't appreciate me going out without telling him the day before and got pretty violent. When the school called, he thought it was about the bruises. That's probably why he doesn't remember the call about me punching Gilbert. After that, he was a bit more cautious."

"Wow, I can't believe I never figured it out. I'm so stupid. He was always a horrible man. And the bruises. I should have put it together. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Well … I told my teacher that they wouldn't take my brother to a doctor before he died ... and when he did die, they checked out our house to see ... if it was actually an unfit home. But it passed inspection and after that I though nobody cared. That's when he actually started..."

"I can't believe it. I've known you since before that! I should have seen that something was happening!" Ludwig groaned, he bent over, holding his face in his hands out of disappointment in himself.

"It's okay. How were you supposed to know, anyway?"

"I don't know, I just ..."

"It doesn't matter any more. You helped me in the end. And Alfred, Arthur and Matthew."

"Yeah," He sighed, "I guess I did."


End file.
